QuestionI have an interesting problem with my GT275.
The charge light started coming on and I traced it back to the stator. The insulation around the wires where the connector harness meets the copper wires coming directly from the stator had disintegrated. The stator tested good once I got the wires separated. I was able to repair the stator and put it all back together.
Now that the stator is repaired and the engine back together I get 33.9V AC at the stator connector (disconnected) with the engine running full throttle. When I plug it back into the harness the battery voltage jumps up to 14.3.
The issue I have is this. I engage the PTO and the charge light comes on again. Regardless of the PTO being engaged or not the brown wires at the regulator and down where the harness meets the sub-harness going between the tractor and the engine get hot. I put an amp probe on there and they appear to be pulling 15A down either leg of the stator. This is with the PTO off. If I put the PTO on then it jumps up to 19.5A.
Using the same amp probe going to the battery there is only 1A going back to the brand new battery. Battery appears to be fully charged.
I have checked all the wires between the stator, sub-harness and regulator connector. Resistance is 0.
So, my question is this...
Would a bad regulator cause excessive amperage draw?
AnswerA bad regulator could cause the problem but I'd start by checking connections and wire condition.
You must have multimeter or device for measuring voltage. You can use a multimeter to measure the voltage drop across wires/cables to check the condition of the cable...how well they are conducting electricity. If there is increased resistance in the wires or connections then there will be increased heat and current. Some Honda motorcycle are prone to poor ground conditions and poor quality or too small of wires causing similar conditions you described.
You can Google "how to check voltage drop" or something similar and find a lot of sites describing the procedure. I would also look for sites describing procedures for identifying bad ground connections...these can be difficult to identify...it is usually easier to dis-connect and clean the ground connections and then measure voltage drop to verify connectivity.
On my Honda VFR, all factory ground connections have been dis-connected and cleaned. In addition, the clean connections were sealed with a protective coating and I installed a cable kit (found on the Internet) which contained another positive battery and ground cable. Now I have 2 cables in parallel allowing much more efficient electron flow reducing resistance which reduces current which caused the regulator to run cooler.
Google the voltage drop and check you larger cables first.
Eric
